FAITH TESTED AND TRUSTED
The Story of the Eze-Oha Owo, Elder Gabriel Nnajichi nwa-Mba
By
Fr Joe Ezechi, PhD
Chairman, Enugu Diocesan Inculturation Commission
Contact: 234-80-3331-5552 (whatsapp)
Sometime in May 2025, a delegation of two men from Owo town in Nkanu East LGA approached my office with the report that one of their kinsmen who is a very devout Christian has become the eldest man, Onyeizi, in Owo town. That position accords him the natural right to be the Eze-Oha Owo. But ascending the office is not automatic; it entails an ensemble of traditional rituals. And now, he was being forced by the community to subscribe to the traditional rituals or lose his right to the position. The name of the man is Gabriel Nnajichi nwa-Mba, born in 1915 according to an unverified record. He hails from Umu-Onugu Owoagu Nnavugo kindred of Ishiegu village in Owo town.
By February this year, 2025, Elder Gabriel Nnajichi nwa-Mba could have been confirmed the Eze Oha Owo if he had agreed to follow the traditional ritual for ascending to the exalted office. However, he refused to observe that ritual because it is rooted in paganism and obviously violates his faith as a catholic. Owo people, particularly the elites and the youths, are divided on whether to respect the old man’s Christian conviction or safeguard the tradition of Owo land. While some insist that tradition must be preserved over and above everything else for the sanctity of the land, others believe that it is no longer possible to keep every Owo indigen under the traditional religion. Many have found new faiths and alternative ways of life. To be sure, Christianity has come to stay in Owo. And it has been beneficial to the land.
Arguments from religious freedom, engraved in Nigerian constitution, have also been invoked in this matter. Everyone must be allowed to follow their religious convictions. Unfortunately, those in support of the pagan rites appear to overwhelm those for religious freedom, not by their demography but by their shrewd stance and the endurance of conviction in the way things have been done. Therefore, it has been a huge challenge for the Elder Nnajichi to gather enough support for his faith-driven stance. Many of his own Umunna took position against the old man. And this is also true of many Christians, especially the liberal ones with apparent sympathy for pagan traditions. They even gave him the option of choosing a representative, if he doesn’t want to do it by himself. In all these, Elder Gabriel Nnajichi nwa-Mba remained resolute and unrelenting in his baptismal vows. For him, to delegate someone is to be complicit.
An intriguing part of the story is that many of those who insist on the traditional rituals – including youths, elites, and liberal Christians – are totally ignorant of what the rituals contain. The forefathers shrouded their customs in secrecy and their offsprings now wallow in ignorance of those customs. Ancient secrecy is the bastion of modern ignorance. It is indeed the undoing of many African traditions. The only person that knows the content of these rituals and traditional customs is elder Nnajichi nwa-Mba himself. In his days as a traditionalist, he used to represent his own father in the Oha Owo and knew well enough what the rituals are all about. According to him, the rituals of installing the Eze Oha Owo entail that he must (a) enter into the sacred glade of Owo town, known as Okuku-izu, (b) take an oath of righteousness with bare feet in the ‘Okpuru abosi’, under the auspices of an ancestral and obstruse deity known as Ogbobe, and finally (c) receive into his own home another deity known as ‘Nevu-Oba’ which he must worship annually with animal sacrifice on behalf of the town.
Many sympathizers of the traditional rites do not even know that the sacred glade called ‘Okuku-izu’ harbouring the ‘Okpuru-Abosi’ is actually the precinct of an ancient deity called Ogbobe, on whose authority a client takes the oath of righteousness. Such sacred glades associated with truth and uprightness is also found in many Igbo communities like Affa, Egede, and some Ezeagu villages. But they are probably vestiges of either the original homestead – nkoro, oboli, or ogbaja – of the primogenitor of the village, or the indelible location for some ancient deity that has gone oblivion.
Yet, one liberal Christian from Owo, who supported the pagan traditions claims that Okuku-izu is “the symbol of the community, the uniting force, the conscience, the history, and the strength of Owo people,” and compared the Nevu-oba to the Jewish ark of the covenant. But while he is able to explain the content of the Ark of Covenant as seen in the bible, he could not say anything about the content of Nevu-oba or Okuku-izu. Another person interviewed is excited to say that Okuku-izu is a sacred ground for detecting truth, and that it contains seven stones representing the villages of Owo town. Yet, none of these people admit to have ever entered into the Okuku-izu sacred glade or ever seen the Nevu-oba that they are describing and defending. None of them knows the content and nature of the rituals.
The Onyeizi Owo once sworn in, becomes the Eze Oha Owo – a prestigious and revered office that can only be occupied by the man who his chi allows such a long life to become the eldest in the whole town. Owo has five or six villages. Each of them has its own Onyeizi or eldest man who represents them in the Oha Owo, namely, the Council of Elders. But the eldest of all these elders become the Eze Oha Owo. Eligibility to this office is not by vote or politics: no contestation, no manipulation. It is a divine act of God, who gives longevity. Therefore, the office is associated with age and respect for age, and with honour given to who honour is due. The attempt to deny Nnajichi his natural right to occupy the chair of Eze-Oha Owo on grounds of his newly found faith, and to cite the wrath of the gods as excuse, is only mendacious. It is an outrage to the spirit of the land. To deny him any benefits accruing from the God-given office is perfidy.
But what was Elder Gabriel Nnajichi nwa-Mba’s inspiration for rejecting the traditional rituals? Why was he also willing to forfeit any benefits that may accrue from being the Eze-Oha?
In the year 2000, Elder Nnajichi nwa-Mba took ill and was admitted for surgery at the Eastern Nigeria Medical Center in Enugu. At the hospital, and overwhelmed with fear of the unknown, Elder Nnajichi was visited by Fr. Godfrey Eneh (Baba Ene) who prayed for him and assured him of God’s intervention. In response, the sick man promised the priest that if he survived the surgery, he would become a catholic. Hitherto, Elder Nnajichi was a staunch traditional worshipper. It is said that he followed the dictates of the local gods so ardently that his paganism was well acclaimed in the town. He is also said to be an upright man, lover of peace, and hardworking in both personal and community works.
However, after a successful surgery, Nnajichi’s health got increasingly better. So, he demanded for a priest to fulfil the pledge he made before surgery. Thus, on 19th September 2000, while still in the hospital, he was baptized by Fr Godfrey Eneh, who was then parish priest of Owo St Anthony. He took the name Gabriel, and vowed to keep the newly found faith with jealousy in appreciation for God’s kindness. For, he believes that his healing was divine. His zeal reached a crescendo when on 21st April 2004, he wedded his wife, Bridget Nnajichi, before the Rev. Fr. Patrick Ude in St Anthony Owo. He went on to receive First Holy Communion, and on 9th of December 2004, he received the sacrament of Confirmation from Biship A.O. Gbuji. Like St Paul after his encounter with Christ, Gabriel Nnajichi nwa-Mba turned into an avid believer in Christ, unwilling to compromise his newly found faith no matter what is at stake.
From the time of his repentance and conversion to Christianity, the Elder Gabriel Nnajichi nwa-Mba has met stiff opposition from his people. First was from his own Umunna and members of the Igede dance who attacked him for abandoning them. He received insults, taunts, denials, and even threats to his life, so much so that the then parish priest of Owo, the Rev. Fr. Romanus Ejim, intervened by fostering a pact between the new convert and his former comrades in paganism. Now that he became the eldest in the whole Owo town, with right to be Eze Oha Owo, the attack continues from his Umunna, who have never supported his conversion to Christianity. At one point, they denied his family access into communal property. Their grievance is that his insistence on the christina faith is reason why their village is about to lose the rare opportunity of electing an Eze Oha Owo. It is also suspected in some quarters that the Owo authorities are withholding some entitlements that may be accruing to the old man as undisputed Eze Oha Owo. These are some of the challenges he has to bear for the sake of faith. But when I visited him in May 2025 and asked him his opinion about the entitlements that he may lose for his stand, he retorted that he did not count those things as something if they would interfere with his faith.
Under the auspices of the Diocesan Commission for Inculturation, I had series of meetings with the Owo people to find a way to resolve the impasse. First, I had meeting with the Oha Owa or Council of Elders. Second, I had town-hall meeting with entire Owo citizens, attended by about three hundred men comprising of the elders, the youths, the traditional ruler, the town union, and some member of other Christian denominations in the town. The Elder Gabriel Nnajichi nwa-Mba himself was present at the town-hall meeting. Third, I had meetings with the parish council and stakeholders of St Anthony Owo, with representatives of CWO, CMO, and CYON in attendance. I also met with some members of Elder Gabriel’s nuclear family, and with some indigenous priests and stakeholders of Owo town. In the long run, the meetings ended in a deadlock: the elder Gabriel insisted on his faith while the Oha Owo insisted on following their tradition. However, there were divergent opinions as sundry people supported opposing sides.
And to overcome the impasse or deadlock, our Commission proposed a leeway to the effect that a Thanksgiving Mass be organized in honour of the Onyeizi Owo, Elder Gabriel Nnajichi nwa-Mba, just to mark his God-given privilege of becoming the eldest man in the town. Even if the Oha Owo would not install him officially on his rightful position, we should at least thank God who gave him the honoured. And, if the impasse between faith and culture should persist in Owo, future elders of Christian extraction in Owo could employ the Thanksgiving Mass as their own way of recognizing God’s gift and celebrating God’s anointing as the eldest individual in town. There were skirmishes of attempt to boycott the Thanksgiving Mass by some Owo citizens who regarded the ceremony as mere party-feasting. But they failed.
I made constant report of the proceedings to the Auxiliary Bishop, Ernest Obodo, to the Presbyterium and the Pastoral Council of Enugu diocese. In one swift turn, the Auxiliary Bishop decided to include the Owo saga in his program for pastoral visit to Owo parish. Thus, on 18th October 2025, the Mass of Thanksgiving in honour of the unfaltering, unflinching and exemplary man of faith, Elder Gabriel Nnajichi nwa-Mba, was officiated by the Auxiliary Bishop of Enugu, Ernest Obodo, in the company of many priests, lay faithful, traditional ruler and cabinet, various uniformed groups of women, and some traditionalists of Owo town. A giant crucifix to be mounted in the compound of the brave elder was donated by the Commission for Inculturation, and another crucifix of malleable size was donated by members of the charismatic renewal of the Owo parish. The bishop blessed the crucifixes as well as a building quickly erected by the traditional ruler of the town. A saint was made in Elder Gabriel Nnajichi nwa-Mba. The man who came to know Christ so late in life has shown that faith can mature irrespective of how long a man has followed the Lord. Taunts against Christ fell on him; and he becomes for us a huge example of heroic faith.
In all these, the incumbent parish priest of St Anthony Owo, the Rev. Fr. Aedesius Agu, was available, participating and helpful. I wish to thank the Auxiliary Bishop of Enugu Diocese, the parish priest of St Anthony Owo, the traditional ruler of Owo, and all who made the event a success. May God be praised in our lives both now and forever, Amen. Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.
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